The football world was shaken to its roots when Barcelona announced that their greatest ever player Lionel Messi would not be able to sign a contract extension with the club due to financial reasons.

Many fans were in denial as they couldn't believe that they would be losing the best player in the world due to financial reasons. But after Lionel Messi gave his final interview in the Camp Nou, fans are now coming to terms with the fact that Lionel Messi wouldn't be putting on the Barcelona jersey anymore.

But how did Barcelona get to this stage? How did one of the biggest and richest club gets into a financial turmoil to the extent that they couldn't hold on to their best ever player? This isn't something that happened overnight, it is the result of a power struggle that Barcelona lost badly.

Barcelona was known for using extreme tactics when trying to sign players. They bully clubs into accepting lower fees by unsettling the player and making him rebel against his club. Normally, a club is supposed to ask a selling club if a player is available, before getting permission to speak to the player.

No player wouldn't be interested if Barcelona comes calling, and Barcelona used this advantage to devastating effects. Barcelona used this tactic when trying to sign Cesc Fabregas from Arsenal.

During the 2010 world cup, Barcelona players forced a Barca jersey on Fabregas knowing fully well that the player was at Arsenal. This prompted Fabregas to force a move out of the club and even had to forgo some of his bonuses to complete his move.

Photo Credit (Reuters)

Barcelona used this tactic when signing Neymar Jr from Santos FC. Real Madrid was very close to signing Neymar for a higher fee, but Barcelona knew they couldn't rival Madrid when it came to financial strength. Barcelona instead convinced Neymar to accept their lower offer rather than Madrid's higher one.

Then, Barcelona came across an equally matched opponent in PSG. Barcelona wanted to use their previous tactic to sign Marco Verratti, but PSG refused totally and instead found out about Neymar Jr's release clause.

PSG convinced Neymar Jr, and Barcelona were shocked when the 222 million Euros release clause was triggered. This started Barcelona's downfall into an abyss of financial issues. After receiving the 222 million Euros, Barcelona could have invested wisely on key players for squad strength.

The midfield needed players to replace Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta, and Xavi Hernandez. Instead, they went looking for superstars to replace Neymar Jr. In, came Ousmane Dembele for 100 million pounds, Philippe Coutinho for 145 million pounds, following by Antoine Griezmann for 120 million pounds.

Everything came crashing down when Philippe Coutinho didn't perform to expectations, Ousmane Dembele always had injury problems, and Antoine Griezmann was inconsistent. The attack was poor, and Barcelona had to bring in players like Kevin Prince Boateng, Martin Braithwaite for backup.

With huge funds tied up in wages and transfer fees to all these players, Barcelona had no way to keep Lionel Messi anymore. And the worst part of it all is that Lionel Messi could soon be signing for PSG.

One way or the other, PSG won by using Barcelona's trick against them.